


Pact's Revival REMAKE

by MilayaMilenZeal



Category: Drag-On Dragoon | Drakengard
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Blood and Gore, F/M, Interracial Relationship, Other, Post Ending A (Drakengard 2), Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-05-23 19:13:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14940234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilayaMilenZeal/pseuds/MilayaMilenZeal
Summary: On a trip to the old Goddess’ Castle, for old times’ sake, Nowe encounters a child with fiery red hair and the most amazing blue eyes. Who is this girl and why can she only speak the tongue of dragons?This is a total remake of a story originally posted on FF.net from way back. Drakengard may be out of style, but I hope you enjoy anyway.





	1. Prologue

##  Prologue

“Legna behind you!!” Nowe shouted in warning, and Legna instantly swerved to the side, just barely avoiding a blast of fire that would’ve done some serious damage had it actually hit him.

Once he had gotten out of the dodge, Legna growled as he spun himself around to face their opponent once again. “When did she get behind us!?”

The question was not really meant to be answered; it was more of an annoyed complaint from the dragon.

“She’s fast…” Nowe whispered under his breath, not as a real answer, but more like an observation. “I can’t even follow her!”

He wasn’t even sure how long they had been doing this song and dance now; he only knew that it was long enough to the point where his hands felt like they might chafe in his gloves from holding Legna’s scales so firmly. While they had certainly faced off against dragons before then, the red dragon -- Angelus -- was by far stronger than any opponent (dragon or non) that Legna and he had ever faced off with before in the skies. And her great speed only made her all the more dangerous to fight. By the time Legna had turned around to face her after she’d circled around them, she’d already have finished the full circle to get behind them once again in the time it had taken them to turn.

Nowe was shaken from his thoughts when Legna sent them upward with one clap of his wings, only just avoiding the rapid bursts of fire by going over them. Despite the dodge, though, one of the fireballs still graced Legna’s leg, and the blue dragon roared in pain as the flames licked at his scales. “Argh! Dammit!”

“Hang in there, Legna!” Nowe called out, wishing there was something, _anything_ he could do aside from giving his adoptive father instructions on where to go.

But just as the thought had finished, Legna spoke again. “My boy, I have a message.”

The words were sudden and unexpected enough that Nowe blinked briefly in question, as he tried to figure out what the dragon could’ve meant with that. But then he realized that there was really only a single person in the vicinity who could potentially contact Legna with such little difficulty when they were up in the air. “From Caim?” he asked.

Legna nodded and then said plainly and without hesitation or question: “Kill Angelus.”

“What?!” Nowe demanded in horror, as he realized immediately that doing just that wouldn’t just kill the dragon; it would kill _Caim_ as well. “They wish to die?!”

“‘Death will be a blessing for Angelus and I’ he says. Indeed, this would be a fitting arrangement for all concerned.”

When Legna put it like that, Nowe began to see the point behind Caim’s words, he bit his lip. “Poor Caim…” he whispered. “He must have been attacking the districts for the past three years. He must have been trying to set the red dragon free.”

“Show no mercy!” Legna shouted, snapping him out of his musing. “Do you wish to die!?”

After quickly shaking his head, Nowe refocused his attention on the battle with Angelus. This time, however, it was with the intent to kill, rather than injure so as to prevent the Goddess Seal from breaking, and now Legna wasn’t holding back anymore in his attacks.

“Caim!” Angelus suddenly screamed, even as she flung another burst of fire their way only for her to immediately fly in the opposite direction. “Caim, the one who calls to me… I cannot see… Where are you?”

As the realization hit him that she still remembered her partner, even with the pain that she undoubtedly had to suffer through as the Goddess Seal, Nowe frowned sadly. The fact that they had both been trying so desperately to find each other in this world, it spoke volumes of their dedication, maybe even _devotion_ , to each other. ‘ _Don’t worry, Angelus… it’ll be all over soon… just a little longer…_ ’

As Legna swerved out of the way again, he fired a great fireball at Angelus, only to curse when she dodged it, with absolutely no difficulty. If anyone was looking from the ground, they’d immediately be able to tell that this wasn’t going well in the slightest. While they were certainly dealing enough damage with every hit they _did_ land, Angelus merely brushed it all off, as if the fireballs were mere flies that were simply tickling her a little.

 

Even after being given the okay to kill, it didn’t make the fight any easier or shorter, and Nowe wasn’t sure how long it took him exactly, but it was long enough that he realized that there was a slight pattern in everything Angelus did. It was almost like she was following some age-old strategy that had served her well all this time. Unfortunately for her, while it would’ve certainly worked against monsters or demons, or even airships, it also made her more predictable if a fight dragged on long enough.

As it had now.

Once he was absolutely sure he had the pattern down right, Nowe waited until Angelus shot herself right at them for a full-on body slam. “Legna! Swerve left, turn around and fire twice!!”

Despite the suddenness of the words, Legna didn’t question the boy’s strategy, swerving left and avoiding Angelus by a hair, before spinning himself around and firing two fireballs in rapid succession.

Angelus had not time to react to the attack, and when the shots nailed her right between her wings she let out a roar of agony, as the second one had her pitching forward. And both Legna and Nowe watched in a combination of relief and astonishment as she fell down toward the castle when she failed to properly level herself again.

“Did we get her!?”

“I think so…” Nowe whispered, just before he heard Angelus scream out as she fell.

“CAAAAIIIIIIM!”

 

With a heavy crash that caused the earth to shake and rumble, the red dragon slammed chest first against the stones of the courtyard, releasing a roar of sheer agony when the sound of stone shattering from her weight was joined by the sound of snapping bone from the impact. When she tried (and failed) to get back up, Legna touched down not that far away from her, but far enough to be out of her immediate reach. That is, of course, unless she decided to breathe more fire at them.

Once Legna had eased off a little and they were sure Angelus would not just up and attack them, Nowe scrambled to get down from the blue dragon’s back. And the second his feet touched the (now uneven) stones of the courtyard, he made to rush for Angelus -- only to stop when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, pulling him back a few steps.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Nowe knew who it was before he’d even turned his head, but it didn’t stop him from staring when he did and saw Caim standing there. Up close like this, he really was an imposing figure and Nowe’d believe it when people said just the sight of him was enough to strike fear into any soldier. And yet, as he looked at his face, he seemed… tired. Exhausted, even. Like his energy had been sapped away by a wraith.

Nowe had no chance to ask him what was wrong, as Caim simply shook his head “no”, before he turned to Angelus as she continued her struggles to get back up. Caim watched her do this for a moment longer, before he shifted the grip on his sword and then jammed it into the cracks of the courtyard, lodging it there with such force that Nowe was sure it’d take a group of normal people to get it to budge even an inch.

When the grip on his shoulder suddenly tightened Nowe winced, both at the action itself as the strength that he could feel from it. He was pretty sure Caim could crush his bones with just his fists if he so desired. But as he looked up at Caim, worry and dread clogging his throat, he very nearly choked on the very air he needed to breathe when he saw that the man was actually _smiling_.

And then his hand was gone as quickly as it’d come and Caim was approaching Angelus, his pace steady, but at the same time, he almost seemed hesitant, as well.

Realizing then what it was Caim wanted, Nowe could only stand back and watch anxiously as Angelus finally managed to push herself up on her wings, if only a little.

 

“Ugh…” Angelus groaned in pain and, had she been human, Caim was almost certain that she probably would’ve been whimpering. The pain that his partner was in didn’t just cause flares of pain to set his own nerves on fire, it also tore away at his heart to see her in such agony. And yet, at the same time, it gave his mind a semblance of relief, knowing that it was only a matter of moments before everything would be all right. Before everything was as it should be… as it should’ve _been_.

_Angelus._ He reached out to her with his mind, as he had done so many times already. Back then, his words had constantly fallen on deaf ears; drowned out by the voice of rage that he knew had consumed her soul. A rage built up over 18 long, torturous years, at those who had imprisoned her, all for the sake of their “world peace”. He hoped that now, with her rage hopefully simmered down, she could hear his voice calling to her, and he prayed that she would respond to him. _Angelus, can you hear me? It’s Caim… I’m here._

She raised her head, and as he saw the embers of hate and rage and pain in her eyes, he almost feared that she was still trapped in the embrace of her anger. But when her eyes narrowed slightly, focusing, and they finally fell on him, her once hateful expression softened and a sense of pure relief washed over him… a relief that was hers, rather than his own.

“Caim!” Her once heavy, growling voice that had once been full of that dragon pride had been reduced to little more than a rasping snarl, but it was laced with all the emotions that her pride had never let her express before their fateful meeting; all the pain, all the sorrow, all the relief, all of it. It was more than he could’ve ever asked for, and he wished he had been able to hear it more often before everything had fallen into ruin for them both. “You heard my voice… You heard my voice, and tried to set me free… many times.”

_Yes… yes, that’s right._ He could barely breathe through his own relief… through his own guilt. This never should’ve happened. He should’ve never **let** it happen. _I couldn’t just leave you in such pain. I should have never left at all… I’m sorry…_

He felt a slight touch at the back of his mind. It was a familiar one, yet so alien as well, given how long it had been since he had last felt it. But it was there now, and it told him that she’d already forgiven him. Told him that it wasn’t his fault and that none of the rage she had felt had ever been aimed at him, and those words caused some of his tension to fall away, off of his shoulders and chest and allowing him to _breathe_.

“How the people must have turned against you…” Angelus said, and he felt her regret mingling with the relief she still felt. “I did not know… I could not know…”

He couldn’t speak anymore, but he could still make small sounds (with considerable effort), and so he made a gently shushing sound to quiet that regret. _Hush now. Hush… it’s all right now, don’t worry._ Caim felt her regret gradually ebbing away, but it still remained somewhere in the back of her mind. That wouldn’t do, at all. _It’s okay… I don’t care if the entire world was out to kill me for what I tried to pull. I chose the world over you once before… but no more of that. Nothing, not even this **pathetic** world, is more important to me than you are… I’m so sorry it took me so long to realize._

Was it just him, or was Angelus smiling? It was hard to say, as it could’ve easily been a grimace from the pain she was still in. “I had waited so long…” she whispered. “…so long to see you again…”

_Yeah… I missed you, too, Angelus… I missed you so much…_

Slowly, he reached out and tenderly placed his hand atop her majestic snout, rubbing over the red scales that were now stained with her blood, and he was relieved to hear her familiar, quiet purr of contentment.

It almost felt like yesterday, when he had first run his hand along her scales to try and get a point across but she had ended up purring like a big cat. He hadn’t let the matter go for almost a week, though he never brought it up with the others. And somehow, somewhere, it just became this thing they did, because she claimed it made her feel “warm”. Whether it was her snout or her neck, she always loved it when he rubbed his hand along the scales as if he was petting her like a mere human’s pet, and he recalled how she had even been able to overcome her fear of the Wyrm, the dragon of legend.

It had been over 18 years since he had last touched her like that. 18 whole, agonizing years of solitude on both their parts… That was just too long. Far too long…

But it was over now… it was finally over…

His eyes never left hers as his own mouth curled into a smile (not a crazed grin, but a genuine smile… god, that felt weird…). She returned the smile with one of her own (this time he was sure of it), even as the yellow of her eyes slowly began to dull to a pale white.

**Is it over… Caim?** Her voice echoed through his mind as her head slowly lowered to rest on the ground and all of the tension eased and he consciousness began to fade away.

His smile became a sad one… because he knew she had completely surrendered to her fatigue.

_It’s over. We’re together now._

Even when he could no longer feel the link to Angelus’ mind and her body became engulfed in flames, Caim completely ignored both the heat and bright lights as he stepped toward her. As he stood close by her side, he placed his hand on her neck, uncaring of the flames as he sat down beside and against her. And as he then rested his cheek against her warm neck, seemingly unaware of the flames that were now beginning to eat at his own body.

It was funny… death had always been something he’d fought tooth and nail against less than two decades ago, and now here he was; waiting for death to carry him away into its cold, bony arms to rejoin his partner once and for all.

The irony of the whole situation wasn’t lost on him, and he couldn’t help but chuckle a little to himself (even if he wasn’t able to make the actual sound); 18 years ago, this was exactly where he and Angelus had met for the very first time. During the Empire’s attack on the Goddess’ Castle to kill Furiae, and had captured Angelus in the confusion that had ensued because of it. By the time he had reached her, they had both been standing on the edge of death’s door, too proud to give into their mortality to admit defeat. And in the end, instead of dying, forgotten and alone amongst the sea of corpses the fighting had left behind, they had chosen to create a pact, right then and there in this very courtyard. And here they were now; old, worn out, torn, beaten… but at least they were together… and it was all he had ever wanted in his life…

As he felt his life beginning to seep from his own body as the fire began to whittle away his very being, he suddenly recalled something. With a lot of effort (because he felt way too lazy to so much as move an inch) he raised his head so that he could turn to look toward where Nowe and Legna stood, with both of them staring in rapt attention. His eyes locked with the boy’s, and he could see his raw emotions in his eyes, and, absently, he wondered if he’d ever been like that.

…probably not…

As the boy realized he was being watched back, Caim mouthed slowly to the youth two words that he had not said (out loud or mentally) in years: “Thank you.”

The kid openly gaped at that, and it was clear that the words, as silent as they had been, had been received and understood. However, Caim barely bothered with his surprise, as he merely rested his head against Angelus’ neck again, smiling peacefully for the first time in years. And as his own consciousness faded away, both his and Angelus’ existence was completely wiped away in a whirlwind of ashes.

All that remained as proof that they had ever existed was Caim’s sword…


	2. Girl from Heaven

**Chapter 1: Girl from Heaven**

** Verse 1 **

Traditionally, when morning came, it was, for many, a clear sign to wake up and face the day. There would always be those who would wish to sleep for longer, but eventually, even those would wake up before long. And the same went for most creatures outside of human settlements.

The same went for a single, solitary creature that was sleeping in its little cove, hidden within the wall of the abandoned human structure. A tiny groan rumbled from the creature’s small throat, and the sound echoed in the little chamber as awareness slowly returned. As the sunlight gradually filtered in from outside, a sliver of blue shimmered in the sunlight.

At first, there was only annoyance at having been woken up, but finally, with a big yawn, the small creature stretched and rose to its feet. It didn’t really _want_ to wake up, but there was no denying that, as much as it wanted to nap some more, it needed to get some food in its belly, at least. After giving a single shake of its head, the creature bounded out of its cove and began to scamper across the stone archways of the place that it had called its home for all this time.

It bounded through the halls, under the broken archways, across the shattered tiles, and scampered past the weathered, torn paintings of the once great family that had lived here before it. The women’s eyes were warm and caring, while those of the men were sterner, and almost cold.

Not that the creature cared about the paintings, or anything else that it passed by; the only thing that it knew for sure, was that this was where it had been since forever, and, thus, this was its home, and nothing more. Even if it was a ruin from who knew how long ago, as long as there was still food for it to collect, it was enough. Much later, should the food supply run out, perhaps _then_ it would consider leaving the ruins to scour around for food outside, away from its home (temporarily).

But until then, it was a necessity that for it stay within the safety of the stone walls. Perhaps when its strength had grown a bit it would consider it earlier.

The one thing that it had noticed quite early about its home, though, was that it always smelled so much of death. Not that this had really bothered it for long, but the stench still got to it from time to time.

It also got it thinking about what had been here before it. Because, whatever had come past here before it had found its way here must have taken out everything that could’ve been even remotely edible and had left them for long enough so that the smell had sunk into the stones.

It paused then, as a familiar sound reached its ears. Pressing down, it waited, breathing slowly, glancing around without moving its head, searching for the source.

And then, it spotted a rat skittering along the floor up ahead.

As soon as its target was in sight, it sprang into action, bolting forward. The rat heard it coming and squeaked as it tried to run away, but it simply wasn’t fast enough as its fangs clamped down on its hide. The small rat squeaked fearfully, but one final bite was enough to shut it up properly.

It sighed softly around the rat as it sat back, grabbing its meager breakfast and tearing into it with gusto. It wasn’t much for breakfast, but for now, it would have to do.

Just as it was about to take another bite, though, it stopped, as a sound suddenly reached its ears. It took only a few moments more for it to realize that something was wrong…

There was a presence somewhere that wasn’t supposed to be there. And that worried it… immensely…

What could this mean?

 

**Verse 2**

The sun was only just rising over the horizon by the time the castle was in view. The sunrise actually added to the aesthetic of the ruins, and for a brief moment in time, he wondered what the place would have looked like in its prime days, when there were actually people living here, and it wasn’t worn down by time.

“Well, here I am…” A heavy sigh escaped Nowe, as he dropped his bag on the courtyard’s shattered tiles, before he, himself, dropped down onto the ground to take a small breather.

He had almost forgotten how tiring it could be to actually _walk_ from one place to the next. Flying on Legna’s back for all these years to get anywhere had made him lazy, he’d come to realize quickly. It had just been so much easier to get on the dragon’s back, say where they had to go, and then, in barely any time, they were _there_.

By now, after ten long years, Nowe was more than used to it, but it could still be very tiring, and he realized now that Legna had spoiled him by always flying him wherever, but, by now, there really wasn’t much to do about it. He quickly shook the thought away, though; he didn’t want to think about what had happened; it was still a bit of a sore subject, even though he had accepted what had happened.

Thinking about it wasn’t going to undo, or even change, the past.

That didn’t stop him from reminiscing on it, though, and somewhere, in the back of his mind, he found himself actually wishing he could be back in that time. The time when they were still running/flying for survival, struggling to break the seals to release Angelus from her prison (even if they hadn’t known that before they had begun). He even found himself wishing to go back to the fight with Angelus… when they’d first arrived at this castle.

Ten years… that’s how long it had been since he had first found this place. It had been entirely abandoned by men; they wouldn’t get within 5 miles of these ruins, claiming it was the site of a great tragedy (well, yeah, it was, really), and that it was haunted. After everything that Nowe had seen, he wouldn’t be all that surprised if it _was_ , but even if that was the case, he wanted to pay his respects to Caim and Angelus. Sure, it hadn’t been the place where they died, but it had still been an important place to them.

Truthfully, he had never stopped thinking about them, even when the sky had turned bloodred and demons ran rampant, they were always in the back of his mind, as he wondered absently how _they_ had handled the red skies. And now, after everything was said and done, he couldn’t help but wonder if they were finally happy, wherever they were now. It was hard to say for absolute certain, but they sure had seemed to be happy when their life had slipped out through their fingers and death had claimed them, just before the wind had blown away the ashes they had become.

Thinking back on that, Nowe allowed a small smile as he thought back to that moment. He honestly doubted he would ever forget the look of peace on Caim’s face as he rested against Angelus’ neck. If Nowe hadn’t known any better, it had seemed almost as if he had been ready to go to sleep, like how he must’ve done years ago, something Nowe had also done many years ago. But, as he sat there, he couldn’t help but wonder, once again; what _had_ there been between those two?

After things had finally calmed down, he had approached Hierarch Seere with this exact question. He had told Nowe, while he had joined Caim’s group last, that he knew for sure that Caim and Angelus had only been together for a little under a year, a far shorter time than they had been apart (by a long shot). Yet, despite the short time that they had been together, Caim had been willing to risk _everything_ just to see Angelus once more and had even been willing to accept death if it meant them being together again.

What kind of a bond had those two shared that he and Legna had lacked?

Honestly, he didn’t know, and he was almost sure that he never would. After all, Seere didn’t know the extent of their relation, and there was no way to ask Caim and Angelus now. Perhaps, someday, he would be able to understand, but for now, even after 10 years, he was left in the dark on the truth of their connection.

As he looked up from where he sat, he smiled as he gazed upon the remains of the castle. The first time he had seen this specific castle had been as they had been chasing after the red dragon, and, since they had been a so focused on the chase with Angelus, they had just ignored the castle at the time. Thankfully, Seere had offered a proper explanation for the ruins, telling him that, while Seere had never been there personally, he knew that this castle had been the home of the royal family of Caerleon, which had once been the name of the region. The king, a man by the name of Gaap, had lived there with his wife and children, where they had looked over the Goddess Castle.

Apparently, there had also been rumors going around at the time, saying that he had been having an affair with the Goddess Asherah, though there had been little to support that rumor. The Goddess Castle, meanwhile, was where Angelus had first met Caim, and where the two of them had made their pact, with both of them standing on death’s doorstep.

It had also, at one point, been used as both the Union’s home base, and a sanctuary for Caim’s younger sister, the Goddess Furiae.

As he stood up, still smiling, he slipped his arm through the shoulder strap of his hefty supply bag. He’d probably taken _way_ too much with him, especially considering he didn’t need to with his men waiting back at the village, but hey, at least he wouldn’t starve out here. The weight on his back actually reminded him of something else that had happened at the Goddess Castle, after the dust had settled, and he let out a small laugh despite himself.

Once the Goddess Seal had been restored and the reconstruction of the Goddess Castle began, he, Manah and Seere had come by as well, both to say a final farewell on Seere’s part, and also to pick up Caim’s sword, which had been still lodged in the stones of the courtyard. And he was really glad that he had decided _against_ actually taking the weapon with him for the trip after Angelus and Caim had passed away. He hadn’t even been able to so much as wriggle it loose from the stones, and even when he had worked together with a number of knights, it simply wouldn’t budge.

How on earth had Caim managed to drag it around like it was nothing? It had taken Seere’s Golem to actually get it out of the ground, and Nowe had barely been able to keep the sword lifted for more than 5 seconds. And yet Caim had wielded it with ease, with _one hand_ no less, as if it didn’t weigh at least a thousand pounds.

What sort of metal had it been made of, anyway?

Still, he had practiced over the course of the months that followed the end of the fight, and he could, at least, lift it up enough to be able to move it around, if need be. Not that he would, as the sword was kept in a glass casing back home (it still felt kind of weird to call it “home” again), a faint red glimmer seeming to come from it because of all the blood it had spilt.

Still, Seere had said it was scary how much the blade had changed; it hadn’t been that red the last time he remembered seeing it, which only indicated how many people must’ve Caim slain in order to free Angelus. And, in a way, it lifted Nowe’s heart to know that Caim had finally found peace in the end. And Angelus, as well.

After shaking the thought away, Nowe moved forward, further along the courtyard to make a few rounds before rejoining his men back in town.

But just as he was working on the fourth round, he paused.

Was it just his imagination or did he just hear something scuffling along the castle walls? Or was it somewhere else along the rocky terrain? As he started paying closer attention, he listened and tried to make as little noise as possible, even slowing his breathing down so that he could hear better.

And there it was again; like something was moving around, skittering about and trying so very hard not to be seen or heard.

Slowly and silently, Nowe reached out and curled his fingers around the hilt of his sword. He didn’t remove it from its sheath just yet, but he adjusted his hand properly so he could pull it out at a moment’s notice. While whatever he’d heard hadn’t sounded all that big, he wasn’t going to underestimate whatever he was dealing with here. After all, even the smaller things could become your undoing if you weren’t careful, as he’d learned the hard way over the years.

Ever so slowly, he moved to the courtyard’s entrance, looking around to try and see if he could, perchance, spot who- or whatever he had just heard. But of course, that was asking for too much, as there was nothing there. As far as he could see, at least.

Foregoing his round to walk straight across the courtyard now, he finally pulled out his sword, the blade barely making a sound as it scraped along the sheath. And as he held it at the ready, fingers curling a little better around the hilt, he walked further forward and toward the center of the courtyard, slowly gazing around to spot anything out of the ordinary. But again, he saw nothing.

By the time he’d heard the whistle from behind him, he’d already jumped out of the way of a rock that had been thrown at him and nearly hit him on the head. It wasn’t necessarily a big rock, but it surely would’ve given him a very nasty headache if it’d hit him. But at least it gave him an indicator of where his target was at. Whipping around, he swiftly scanned the walls, but he could only just catch sight of a brief flash of red disappearing back into the castle through one of the doors up top.

Nowe knew he’d never get up there in time to catch whatever that had been.

On foot, at least…

After taking a deep breath, he focused to find the source of his ‘power’, and then, briefly, his hair turned a pale white as his pupils contracted and then lengthened to form slits. Then a burst of light erupted from his back as he kicked off from the stones and effectively launched himself upward, only to land only seconds after. And once his feet touched the stone floor, he cut off the flow of energy so he wouldn’t waste any, and then he hurried after the blur he’d seen earlier, heading inside through the door that had half-fallen off its hinges, half-broken into splinters.

As he darted inside, he briefly thought back to what he’d just done. He’d actually learned to control his transformation, which had taken a surge of emotion that first time, though it had taken a couple of years before he had absolute control of it. He still wasn’t the biggest fan on using it, but at times, it was definitely handy to have around. And this one of those situations.

He snapped back to reality when he spotted the blur of red disappearing behind a wall, and he rushed after it as fast as he could, trying not to trip over the loose rocks in the tiling, but whatever it was he was chasing was always _just_ out of his reach. It skittered through the halls, up and down the stairs randomly, and kept going too fast for him to determine just _what_ it was he was chasing. It probably wasn’t a good idea to keep following it, but curiosity had already won over rationality and he chased it down nevertheless.

But then he spotted it disappearing into what he believed to be (or have at one point been), based on the castle layout, the dining hall.

As he stepped into the room through the doorway, Nowe looked around carefully. It was definitely a big room, almost _too_ big for it having only one real dining table with a handful of chairs. Surprisingly, this place had somehow lived through whatever had happened in this place, and even the table linen was still in place… if a little riddled with holes due to moths. There’s really only so many places anyone could hide in here, and it should’ve been easy, and yet he couldn’t see it. He tried to think of a place where the creature could have gone, because surely it couldn’t have gotten _that_ far ahead of him, could it?

So, just to be safe, he reached back and shut the door, trapping whatever he had chased in, since all other doors to this place had already been closed.

 

**Verse 3**

A tiny whimpering-growl almost escaped the creature’s throat as the sound of the entrance falling shut echoed through the room, but it was as a sound that it smothered at the last second before it could be heard as the echo faded. It knew very well that the only entrance was now blocked off, and that it would not be opened so easily if it wished to escape the same way it had come in. It had taken so long to open it the last time it had fallen shut, and it would be impossible to open it before it could get caught by that… that _thing_ that had trespassed on its home.

Then again, there wasn’t much that could be done. After all, what could it possibly do to that _thing_? That _thing_ had to be at least 10 times bigger than anything it had ever eaten, and almost 3 times bigger than itself. And it knew the way of the world; the strong preyed on the weak, the bigger preyed on the smaller, so there was no way it wasn’t going to end up being eaten by that _thing_ if it was being persistent. Which appeared to be the case…

Was this how things would end for it? The thought alone was scary. It didn’t want to die.

Still, what could it do? That _thing_ had jumped up a wall that was 3 times its own size (at minimum), something it wouldn’t have been able to do even if its life depended on it.

…maybe it shouldn’t have thrown the rock at the _thing_ … maybe it’d have been left alone then…

‘ _I’m so stupid…_ ’

The only thing it could do now was hope and pray that the _thing_ would tire of trying to find it and would leave soon. Sadly, by the look of things, that wasn’t about to happen any time soon, as the _thing_ continued to move along the room.

With nothing else it could do, it curled up as much as it could, and tried to keep perfectly silent, but its tummy was grumbling quite loudly, despite that it had .

It could only hope that thing couldn’t hear that well…

Then, just as suddenly, the thing was gone from its view, and it breathed a small sigh of relief. Despite this, though, it remained hidden for a while longer, just in case the thing was still around somewhere.

Just then, some sort of round, red and shiny object dropped to the ground ahead of it. It had never seen anything like the object, but, as it sniffed at the air in the thing’s general direction, it actually _felt_ its tummy growl once again. It had never smelled anything like it, but it knew one thing for sure; it had to be so much better than devouring small, raw critters over and over.

It was dangerous to even attempt it, and it reasoned with itself that it was simply not worth the risk of capture and/our certain death. But as a particularly strong hunger cramp hit, it had to suppress the pained whimper that attempted to claw is way or of its throat. The reality of the situation hit hot then; trap or not, it had to eat. If it didn't want to starve to death, the chance that it was a trap _had_ to be taken.

It just hoped it was fast enough to avoid the creature… wherever it had gone.

After lifting itself off of the floor, balancing itself on its four limbs, it briefly clawed at the rocky surface, mentally preparing itself for the worst. And then, after one more look around the room, it then launched itself toward the object with all the speed it could muster.

 

**Verse 4**

The room was deadly silent as Nowe walked across the tiles, with only the sound of his footsteps being audible. He was pretty sure that he'd seen it running in here, and there were no other exits that were actually accessible, so really, all he had to do was wait. However, when he heard something that almost sounded like a growl he tightened his grip on his sword. He wasn’t sure what kind of sound it had been, but it had been a very quiet sound, so maybe it had been an involuntary one. And now that he thought about it, it actually sounded a little familiar, though he couldn’t place where he’d heard it before.

That is, until his stomach grumbled its protest from lack of sustenance, reminding him he had actually skipped breakfast that morning. As he placed a hand on his belly, though, the connection hit him. And when this knowledge finally registered fully, he smirked with the realization that there was actually a very easy way to get this unknown creature to come out from hiding.

After a moment of looking around, Nowe stepped on one of the chairs that looked capable of holding his weight, before he stepped atop the table as quietly as humanly possible. Once he was perched there in a crouch, he pulled out his bag and opened it just as quietly. searching through it quickly to find something he could potentially use.

Finally, he pulled out a shining red apple that he had purchased from the village before leaving. He wasn’t usually one for apples, but these had just looked so good, he could hardly refuse. Once he had closed his bag and placed it to the side, he tossed the apple over into the open, far away enough so that whatever he had been chasing would have to get out of hiding in order to grab it, but close enough that it was still in his range. And then, Nowe just waited.

Now, while it did take slightly longer than he would’ve expected, when it did happen, the creature burst out from under the table with almost frightening speed. Instantly, Nowe lunged from his perch toward it. And miraculously, he managed to grab the creature by the scruff of its neck before pinning it down to the floor with a knee pressing down into its back. The moment he did, it yowled in what could only be called sheer fright before beginning to struggle almost violently against the grip on its throat while making loud cries.

Nowe growled a little as it fought back so fiercely, almost reaching back and scratching at his arm, but then he gasped when he saw exactly what he was holding down.

He wasn’t holding down some kind of creature, like he had initially been expecting; instead he was holding down a small child with a mop of messy hair of which he could barely discern the color because it was so filthy. He was so startled by this sudden realization, that Nowe just crouched there for a moment, staring in surprise. But finally, he shook himself out of it and sheathed his sword once more, without ever relinquishing his hold on the child.

Which was exactly when the little one was able to twist its arm around so that its sharp nails suddenly dug across his arm, drawing blood as they tore through the cloth, almost making him yelp/hiss in pain. When he took a better look at the child’s hands, he noticed immediately that the nails were almost long enough to be considered claws rather than nails, which was a clear indication of just how long the child had to have been left on its own here.

Which was also about the moment he noticed something else; the child wasn’t even wearing clothes of any description, which made him worry about the little one’s health. However, it did make it a little easier for him to determine the child’s gender, though. After adjusting himself a little better, as well as tilting his head, he was soon able to determine that he was dealing with a little girl.

And just as he came to that conclusion, she made a very specific sound that Nowe actually recognized. While it wasn’t a shout in a language that humans would be able to understand, Nowe both recognized it, and was able to understand it with no difficulty whatsoever. It was a slight rasping noise that was somewhat like a combination between a growl and a roar, with the pitch and duration of the shouts varying regularly.

Once he had gotten over his shock and surprise over the girl’s shouts/growls, he reached out for her with his free hand, placing it tenderly on her head as he spoke in the same way as the girl. “ _Hush, hush, little one. I promise I’m not going to hurt you,_ ” he started, which already made the little girl stop her growling to look up at him. “ _I’m sorry for scaring you like that… I’ll let you get up if you promise to calm down, okay?_ ”

As he finished saying that, the girl gradually began to calm, though she was still sniffling a little from her earlier panic. When she was finally able to breathe properly without sniffling like hse was about to break out into tears, Nowe allowed a small sigh of relief, well beyond glad that she had calmed down. Slowly, so as not to scare her, Nowe unfurled his hand from around her neck, feeling the tension in her body fading at the same time, before she bolted away from him, which he had somewhat expected, disappearing again under the nearest table. However, unlike earlier, he could see her properly now, as she was now watching him from under the torn tablecloth.

A small chuckle escaped Nowe at the girl’s worried/curious expression, as he reached over and picked up the apple he had just dropped. Without saying anything, while making sure to move as quietly and slowly as possible, he moved closer to her, keeping a close eye on her to make sure she wouldn’t run away from him again. When she didn’t, he slowly sat down on the nearest chair that wasn’t broken. Once he was absolutely sure that the chair would actually hold his weight, he leaned forward to lean forward on his knees and held up the apple to her.

She stared at it for a long time, clearly hesitating about taking the item from him after what had just happened, and he honestly wouldn’t have blamed her if she decided to not take it from him. However, at that specific moment, her tummy roared like a hungry ogre and she actually whimpered a bit, right before she shot out and abruptly snatched the apple from his hand, disappearing back under the table and then biting down on the apple to rip off a huge chunk in a single bite. This left Nowe watching in amazement as she completely devoured all but the applecore, quickly and efficiently searching and finding every piece she could possibly get to.

When she had finished the whole thing, then and only then, she finally raised her head again, looking at him with a curious glance. When she did, he could tell then that her eyes were a dark, murky blue color, though they seemed to shimmer lightly when the light from the nearby window fell on them as she peeked her head out from under the table a bit.

Like that, the two stared at each other for a long time, Nowe leaning forward on his knees, and the little girl on her tummy under the table, silently. It was almost five minutes later that Nowe decided to break the silence and asked her, kindly: “Who are you?”

She didn’t answer him, and merely cocked her head curiously, blinking, as if didn’t actually understand what he was saying to her.

This, of course, left Nowe wondering to himself how he was supposed to converse with her to learn anything, and he briefly scratched the back of his head, only to blink when she reached up and copied the gesture. As funny as it was for him to see her copying him like that, after shaking it off, he decided to try something else, as he pointed to himself. “ _My name is Nowe,_ ” he said, voice coming out of his throat as little more than a growling noise to anyone else. “ _Do you understand? I am Nowe._ ”

When he finished those words, she blinked once more, her eyes narrowing a little bit. And then, finally, she spoke in the same growling voice: “ _No…we…?_ ”

He smiled, ignoring how she drawled out his name in her attempt. “ _That’s right. What’s your name? Can you tell me?_ ”

For about a minute, the girl didn’t seem prepared to say anything else in turn again. But, after a few more moments of thought, she finally smiled, which immediately helped to light up her whole face. “ _Angelina!. Papa call me that. He says it means ‘lil angel’._ ”

“ _Angelina…_ ” Nowe repeated before he smiled at her warmly. “ _Well, it’s nice to meet you, Angelina._ ”

With the ice thoroughly broken, he managed to coerce Angelina to come out from under the table, and he gave her his jacket to wear, which had her giggling merrily as she hopped and waved her arms to watch the fabric flutter around her. And Nowe couldn’t help but laugh in turn at her obvious amusement. What was interesting, though, was that, though she clearly knew how to walk, she didn’t actually move around like that; she moved on all fours instead for a reason Nowe was not sure he wanted to know.

One thing he _did_ want to know, though…

“ _Angelina, where are your mama and papa? Are they here, too?_ ” Nowe asked of her gently once she had stopped running around to settled next to him.

“…” Startled, Angelina was silent as she looked up at him with wide eyes. Before Nowe could ask her again (just in case she didn’t actually understand what he meant to ask), her expression fell and she lowered her head “ _…I dunno… they were heres before… but I dunno where they are nows…_ ”

Nowe tried very hard to not frown in worry about the little girl’s situation, but it was really not easy. He was fairly certain that her parents were not in the castle, even if they had been there before. Given the state of the building, it was more than likely that they had passed away quite some time ago. Of course, he couldn’t tell her that, but he definitely had to get her out of there, because there was no way she would survive out here on her own.

“ _Well, if you want, I can help you look for them?_ _Maybe we’ll find them more easily like that._ ” When speaking to her, he did his absolute best to stay calm and polite to the little girl so that she wouldn’t panic or start crying, which, while that wasn’t that hard for him to begin with, he wasn’t used to dealing with children much. He really didn’t want her to start crying or screaming or… whatever it was that little kids did when they got upset (Nowe _really_ wasn’t sure about any of that), so he was extra careful with what he said around her.

Angelina was definitely a little hesitant, he could tell, but he was fairly sure that she certainly wanted to find her parents. And, thankfully, she finally nodded her head meekly. “ _Okay…_ ” she uttered with a small growl

Glad that he had managed to get her to agree, Nowe smiled and then held out his hand to her. Clearly, she didn’t understand what he was doing immediately as she looked at him in silent question. Chuckling at this, Nowe said: “ _If you take my hand in your own, we won’t lose each other_.”

Angelina still looked confused, but eventually she did reach out and took hold of his hand with her own, and she let him pull her up to her feet again as he stood up from the chair. And once they were both on their feet proper, they began to walk, roaming through the many halls of the castle in companionable silence.

Now that he had some more time to explore the entire castle, Nowe couldn’t help but be struck by how hauntingly empty it was, to the point where he was expecting ghosts to pop out from the paintings. And all the while he just couldn’t understand how Angelina could stand to live in such a place, even if she’d been living here before with her parents. And speaking of, _why the **hell**_ weren’t her parents with _her_? While living in a ruin like this didn’t have to be the worst experience (as Nowe could verify), he was certain that if he had been all alone at Angelina’s age, he would’ve been absolutely miserable. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what she must’ve gone through all this time (however long she’d been here).

With that thought in mind, he made a mental note that if they couldn’t find Angelina’s parents (which he doubted they would), he would find some way to get her out of there and away from this place until they could, somehow, find her parents. There was no way he was about to let a small girl like her stay in this cold, desolate place alone.

 

**Verse 5**

The castle was much, _much_ larger than Nowe had initially anticipated. Not that that was the biggest issue for him stamina wise, time-wise, it was a bit of a time crunch. But, finally, they reached the top floor of the castle, where the bedrooms were. Logically speaking, this would probably be the best place for people to stay if they were homeless and searching for a place to stay. Of course, that didn’t mean the place was in good condition; the glass in the windows had long since shattered from whatever had hit it, not to mention the roof and walls had been torn open in multiple locations.

Most interesting, though, were the paintings on the walls. While most were torn up, but there were a few that were less ruined than others, and one of them was what looked like a family painting of what Nowe believed to have been the ruling family of the time. The King sat on the left (right on the painting) and the Queen (or so he assumed… he didn’t see a crown or tiara or… anything) on the left. They were both sitting in, what looked like normal chairs rather than fancy thrones, and they both wore normal, though definitely clean clothes. The only reason why Nowe was sure the man was the King was because of the fancy circlet.

While the Queen looked absolutely pleasant, and very kind, with her hands in her lap, the King looked rather stern, both arms on the armrests of his chair. Also, was it normal for royals to have so much space in between their seats? Something about it made the whole scene seem… off.

What got Nowe’s attention a little more, though, were the children depicted there.

One was a girl, maybe around 10, 12 at most, standing by the Queen’s side. She was pretty cute, to be fair, with her happy smile on her face. The other was a boy, somewhere around 14 or 15, standing by the King’s side, with a small smile of his own.

‘ _The prince and princess, I guess…_ ’

Nowe didn’t get to look at it too closely after, though, as he could feel Angelina’s hand trembling in his own, which had him turning to her. And when he did, he noticed she was shivering.

“ _Angelina? Are you cold?_ ” he asked her carefully.

Instead of admitting to it, she vehemently shook her head. “ _I okay,_ ” she said, but despite her words, she continued shivering quite violently.

After a bit of thought, Nowe finally just bent down to her level and, without an actual warning, he lifted her up into his arms. This, as expected, had her yowling in surprise, before she grabbed hold of his shirt so she wouldn’t fall. “ _It’s fine, Angelina. C’mon… let’s find you something warm to wear. The last thing we want is for you to get sick, after all._ ”

“ _But I dun get sick…_ ” she protested softly, even though she still snuggled up against his chest, possibly for a little more heat. Or she was just tired.

And as she continued to cuddle up against him, rubbing her face against his chest, Nowe found himself smiling as he wrapped his arms around her to warm her up by rubbing his hands over her back. And, as he stood there with the girl in his arms, he couldn’t help but feel this sudden surge of protectiveness swelling up in him. Vaguely, he wondered if this was how a parent would feel about their child, and if this was anything like Legna had felt for Nowe.

Once she was comfy enough, Angelina smiled back up at him, a little sleepily, and just as suddenly her eyes fell shut and she curled up even further in Nowe’s arms, hands still clinging to the his shirt. Unable to help himself at the sheer _cuteness_ of it all, Nowe reached out and ran a hand through her hair absently.

With Angelina fast asleep, Nowe began to walk along on his own, peeking in the nearby rooms to try to get a feel for who had once slept in there. Finally, at the end of the hallway, he found a room that he was sure would give him what he needed. The first thing he noticed when he stepped in was that it was… well, a very cozy looking room, despite the obvious damage.

There was a bed in the corner, a bookcase (with all the books scattered around at the bottom) to the wall on the left of the fireplace in the back, and a dresser stood on the other side of the fireplace. It looked like a young girl’s room, so Nowe assumed that it had probably been the princess’s room way back.

As he looked around the room once more, Nowe could tell that, while it had, one point, been a cozy place to stay in, it was in no way fit for anyone to live her, let alone on their own. Especially a child. Looking down at Angelina, he knew then and there that he simply couldn’t leave her there.

He had to take her home with him.

‘ _Poor girl… how long has she been here? Alone, without her parents to guide her?_ ’ he wondered.

With his mind made up, he walked over to the dresser and pulled open one of the drawers. He wasn’t expecting much as he looked inside for something (anything, really) that he could give Angelina to serve her as makeshift clothes until he could get her some that would fit her properly.

Thankfully, the room had to have been the princess’s room, based on the contents being mostly dresses. Unfortunately, the colors (which had probably been beautiful at one point) had faded away, and they were all mostly eaten by the moths, which made it that much more difficult to find something he could use.

In the end, he pulled out one of the smaller dresses that was a pale red and had only had hole in the bottom section and at the ends of the sleeves, which could be fixed with limited difficulty. After all, it wasn’t like Angelina would really need either the skirt or sleeves.

Fixing the dress would be the easy part… that is, if Angelina decided to let go, as she was still clutching onto his shirt with both hands. After a few minutes of trying to figure out how to work around this issue, he finally conceded that the only way to do that was actually waking her up.

“ _Angelina… Angelina, wake up, sweetheart._ ” She whined a little, before she peeked out through one eye. Smiling at her, Nowe said: “ _Can you let go of my shirt for a moment? I have something for you that will make sure you don’t feel the cold as much._ ”

While she seemed awfully reluctant about doing so, she slowly, sleepily, complied, but instead of helping him any further, she closed her and went right back asleep, actually going limp in his arms. Not that Nowe had a big problem with that, since it just made things a little easier for him. So, he just smiled as he set her down on the bed so that he could both work on fixing the dress and getting her into it. Which, thankfully, took a lot less time than he had been expecting, which was good.

Once she was dressed properly, finally, he curled his arms around her back and lifted her up again, setting her up against him again. This, in turn, had her grumbling something he couldn’t hear properly into his shoulder, even as she snuggled up closer.

After gently adjusting his hold on the small girl, he whispered whilst nudging her awake: “ _Angelina…_ ”

She whimpered softly at the nudge and call, but it took him a little longer before she finally just opened both her eyes, looking at him questionably, though she still looked like she was about to fall asleep on him at any moment.

Nowe sighed, then said, trying to be as kind and careful as he possibly could: “ _I’m afraid your mama and papa aren’t here, sweetie. And I really don’t want to leave you here all alone… I’m afraid something might happen to you if I were to leave you._ ” He gave her a moment to digest this, though he wasn’t entirely sure if she understood. Still, he had to try. So, speaking as sincerely as he possibly could, he said: “ _You can stay with me until we can find them again… That way you won’t be all alone anymore._ ” And then, finally, he asked her: “ _So… will you come home with me?_ ”

Angelina didn’t say anything for the longest time, though she did seem to be honestly considering his offer. Honestly, he hoped that she would accept, because, even though he wasn’t prepared to leave without her, he still didn’t want to take her without her consenting to it. Thankfully, she hummed softly, lazily and curled up against Nowe again. “ _…kay…_ ”

Nowe smiled and, on impulse, placing a tender kiss on the girl’s forehead, before he stood up and, started on his way out of the castle, the small girl fast asleep in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap what took me so long!? Uh, yeah... redoing some of the background stuff is what took so long.  
> Sorry about the delay, people; I'm trying to get in everything I've recently learned of the games' lore. I apologize if it's too much to take in all at once. :(


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